It’s a town of less than 20,000 people, but Hollywood loves it.
Located about 45 minutes away from Portland by car, the riverfront town of St. Helens, Oregon, is the backdrop for the 1998 Disney classic “Halloweentown,” and doubled as the Washington port city of Port Angeles in the 2008 “Twilight” movie.
Tourists visit throughout the year, but each fall St. Helens puts on its Spirit of “Halloweentown” Festival, which runs on select days from late September through November 1 to bring the iconic film back to life. Special guests have included actors Judith Hoag and J. Paul Zimmerman, the mom and son in the movie.
St. Helens has a host of “Twilight” themed shops around town, too, including Sweet Starling Co. and Experience Twilight, where fans can collect memorabilia and re-live the hit saga.
There are also several film locations for guests to visit, including the famous restaurant scene in “Twilight” and Bella Swan’s house.
Here are some sights you can see in and around St. Helens from both movies.
In “Halloweentown,” St. Helens’ courthouse serves as the movie’s town square and is featured in scenes including Marnie’s discovery of the town, establishing shots, crowd scenes, and the film’s finale with the famous jack-o’-lantern.
The courthouse is still in operation today.
The festival begins with a lighting ceremony of a replica of the movie’s town square jack-o’-lantern at the center of the celebration.
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Throughout the festival, as day transitions into night, the town square becomes the center of the party for “Spirit of Halloweentown” festivalgoers.
The movie’s alleyway rescue scene was filmed right in the heart of St. Helens’ downtown.
Kristi Etzel, a travel content creator, visited St. Helens this month to view the various filming locations: “I’m so glad they have embraced the Twilight films for those of us that were obsessed with the movies in high school to be able to visit as adults,” she told Business Insider.
The building used as “The Bloated Toad,” the name of the fictional restaurant where Bella and Edward dine after the alleyway rescue, is located at 330 S. 1st Street in St. Helens.
The Victorian-looking building was never a real restaurant. It’s a mixed-use residential building with commercial space on the first floor and living space above.
Bella Swan’s house, located at 184 South 6th Street, is now a functioning vacation rental that fans can book for a minimum stay of 2 nights.
Etzel said there are “road closed” signs near the house, as well as other warnings to fans to keep noise to a minimum for those currently staying there.
While the baseball game itself was filmed across the Columbia River in Washington, Multnomah Falls, about 60 miles from St. Helens, appears in the background of several shots.
“Twilight” superfans — and nature lovers, too — can visit the waterfall.
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